Editorial: Coalitions

The Labour Party in Britain has been forced to rule out a coalition with the Scottish Nationalists after coming under heavy pressure from the Conservatives.  It seems quite amazing to me that Labour could even contemplate a coalition with a party which will be a bitter rival in the general election campaign north of the border.  Now it is obvious to all that the ultimate aim of the SNPis an independent Scotland. They have made this quite clear. So imagine the SNPin coalition with Labour. Their wish-list would include another referendum on Scottish independence and probably the end of the Scottish based nuclear deterrent. Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, made it  very clear during the Scottish referendum that he believed in a United Kingdom. His party campaigned for the “No” vote.  But then he ponders a coalition with the SNP. I sincerely hope that a single party wins an overall majority in the British gegeneral election. It is a much clearer result which will end all the political unstability. Can you imagine a Labour/SNPcoalition or even a Conservative/UKIP government? It would be a nightmare scenario. Unfortunately at the moment the opinion polls suggest that another coalition government is on the horizon in Britain. The two main parties are level pegging in the polls. Some have suggested a possible Conservative/Labour coalition. This sounds better to me than a coalition government including one of the smaller parties.